Building structure



Nov. 29, 1932. F. L. GREEN 1,889,547

BUILDING STRUCTURE Filed April 25, 1929 5 Sheets-Sheet l I E I Nov. 29, 1932. F. 1.. GREEN 1,889,547

BUILDING STRUCTURE Filed April 25, 1929 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Nov. 29, 1932. F. L. GREEN BUILDING STRUCTURE Filed April 23, 1929 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 //V VEN T OR Ma i JIM/w (\JJM m M M Q film a M wim QM v smu Patented Nov. 29, I:

i U l E-npsrATEs PATEN or c fp FREDERICK LQG EEN', or"mvrn'oron-on-rrunson, nEw YORK i 'IBUII-JDINGI srnuorunn 3 Application filed Apri1'23,

I The invention willbe fully understood fromjthe following description read in conjunction with the drawings in which, I Figs. 1,2, 3, and ljare, side,end', top, and 5 perspective views respe'ctively of aunit employed in my construction.-

Fig. 5 is a perspective vlew of'an assembly of such units forming astructure.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of walls comment of metal lath thereto,an d, a

Fig. 7 is a pha-ntom -view of suchza wall showing method of forming a combination up a wall; thus for example, a section through f. my brick parallel to the major surface of the wall so formed may be that of a triangle, rectangle, or any multi-sided figure adaptedto be; laid close to similar figures toiform a complete surface. A section through my unit,

- at a right angle to the surfalceofithe wall so formed is preferablyrectangular; The preferred form of unit is that of a parallelepipedon such as 1 illustrated inthe various'figures. which accompany the application. By reference to Fig. 3, it will beflobserved that this preferred form is completelyiskeletonic andis defined only by the terminal members 01111.

., ing the edges of the brick. The upper face,

I for example, is defined onlyby the terminal members 20, 21, 22 and 23; The lower face is defined only by the terminal members 28, 29, and 31. One end is'definedby the terminal 0 members 24, 20, 25 and 28, and the opposite end is defined by the terminal members 26,

27 and 30.

These units are of light weight, composed of relatively light weight pieces of steel, such as for example, angle, channels and/or f rails, and in the preferred form these'rails are distributed along the edges of the brick,

- that is along the vertices of the dihedral an-. gles. While these units maybe ofany size,

I find a width of 4 to 8' inches, a length of 8 to 32 inches, and a height of 6 to 24inches outside surfaces of said Wall.

0 posed of my units showing method of attachtical supports such as the steel rails (beams) tion, may proceed to fabricate a finished build ng assemblying my walls in the same fashion as brick walls "are assembledtalthough 1923., Serial no. 357,403.

*t'o'be suitable. These units are assembled to- V geitheir' to form the desiredwall, and are secured to each other, by spot welding contiguous edges of said bricks along the inside and f A favored construction is that lll'WlllCll the r 7 units are assembled with staggered joints as illustrated in Figsfl5 to 7 inc. I

.My preferred practice in joining the units is to spot weld the same at those points on" the said wall surfaces at which three or more of the said bricks come together thereby imparting the maximum rigidity to the completestructure with a minimum number of welding operations." The'wall so formed may of course be secured to'the foundation ;1n any sultableway, as for example, by means of anchor bolts 10 cast in concretefou'ndatlon 11. Windows anddoors may be placed n spacesleftfor that purpose in the finished "wall. 1 preferably employ windows and I 'doorsfabricatedwwith steelframes 'so that these frames may be locked in position by ton brickil Welding to the abutting edges of theskelei Owingtothe strength andrigiditywhich characterize -my construction, I am'enabled to dispense entirely ifdesired withthe Verwhich carry the compressive stresses of the so weightof the superstructure. I In thiscase, thefskeleton bricks carrythe entire trans-v mitted weight of that part of the structure when is abovethe same. For this reason I do not require complicated plans showing the character, proportions and positionsof steel work, but having'any plans fat alland regardjless of'whetherthese plans were origm'ally" prepared for steel or wood construcm'ore rapidly and easilyu An additionaladvantage of my construction' arises from the fact that owing to the, f

skeleton structure of my buildingunits, I

may assemble these to form a wall, preferably weldingthe same inpositi on, and place cement retaining means such as boards-against the ins de and outside surfaces ofithe wall so formed and proceed to pour a liquid or plastic cement, such as for example, concrete into the space so formed.

This relieves me of the necessity for forming complicated forms and permits me to construct a rigid steel cement structure at a minimum cost. Whenever one horizontal section of the wall has been completed in this manner, the boards may of course be carried to a-higher level following the upward extension of the assembled skeleton brick and the process repeated.

. Fig. 7 illustrates an assembly of bricks in this manner resting on foundation ll, backed by boards 12, the outside boards having been removed for purposes of observation, and a cement filling being indicated.

A preferred method of constructing the said steel cement wall is to pour into the space so formed a cement which prior to setting generates a multiplicity of small gas bubbles disseminated throughout the mass thereof, to form a solid material which has excellent thermally insulating properties. Cements of this type have been developed, and a more complete description of the same is not necessary at this point. space between the inside and outside surfaces of the wall formed may if desired be left empty or filled with any fibrous or pulveru lent thermal insulation.

Having constructed the wall as aforesaid,

with or without the cement filling between the inside and outside surfaces thereof, I

'may attach thereto lath of any character, al-

though I preferably employ for this purpose metal lath. such as for example, that formed of expanded metal. Such lath is shown as 14 in Fig. 6 attached to the inside and outside surfaces respectively. This lath is perfectly attached by spot welding it tothe steel skeleton bricks. The plastic finish for the interior walls may be formed on the inside lath and a stucco finish may be formed on the outside lath. It will of course be understood that any alternative surfacing for either inside or outside walls may be employed in combination with my skeleton bricks, thus for example, the outer surface may be composed of wood or brick veneer, and if desired may be spaced away from the skeleton bricks to permit any seepage through the outside wall to drain down out of contact with the bricks.

It will of course be understood that my invention is susceptible of a number of modifications other than those herein described. The description is for purposes of illustration and not by way of limitation. It is myintention that the invention be limited only by the appended claims or their equivalents in which I have endeavored to claim broadly all inherent novelty.

I claim:

1. A house comprising a wall of steel skele- The hollow,

ton bricks, rigidly joined by Welding contiguous edges of said bricks along the inside and outside surfaces of said wall, each vertically succeeding layer of said steel skeleton bricks being adapted to support the entire wall structure surmounting the same, said bricks having the form of parallelepipcdons and this form being defined only by terminal members forming the edges of the brick.

2. A house comprising a wall of steel skeleton bricks, said skeleton bricks being laid with broken joints and rigidly connected by spot welds on the inside and outside surfaces of said wall uniting the points at which three of said bricks join, each vertically succeeding layer of said steel skeleton bricks being adapt ed to support the entire wall structure surmounting the same, said bricks having the form of parallelepipcdons and this form being defined only by terminal members forming the edges of the brick.

3. A house comprising a wall of steel ske]e ton bricks, rigidly joined by welding contiguous edges of said bricks along the inside and outside Surfaces of said wall, each vertically succeeding layer of said bricks being adapted to support the entire wall structure surmounting the same, and a thermally insulating cement carrying a multiplicity of small gas bubbles disseminated throughout the mass of the same filling the space between the inner andouter surfaces of said wall.

4. A house comprising a wall of steel skeleton bricks, said bricks being laid with broken joints and rigidly connected by spot welds on the inside and outside surfaces of said wall uniting the points at which three of said bricks join, each vertically succeeding layer of said bricks being adapted to carry the entire wall structure surmounting the same, and a thermally insulating cement carrying a multiplicity of small gas bubbles disseminated throughout the mass of the same filling the space between the inner and outer surfaces of said wall.

FREDERICK L. GREEN. 

